Through the Looking Glass
by ThisCouldTheoreticallyBeSparta
Summary: When something happens to the mirror in the bathroom, Sirius finds himself in swapped places with the Sirius from another world.
1. Chapter 1

THROUGH THE LOOKING-GLASS

Author: Pixie-Rings

Fandom: Harry Potter

Pairing: Remus/Sirius

Genre: romance, angst, adventure

Rating: R

Disclaimer: Belongs to J.K Rowling. If I were she, I'd be rich, which is a reason not to sue me. I own nothing except the clothes on my back, the glasses on my face and the cats on my sofa. Actually, the sofa is my landlady's.

Warning: Gryffinwhore!Sirius

Summary: When something happens to the mirror in the bathroom, Sirius finds himself in swapped places with the Sirius from another world.

A/n: Yes, inspired by Fullmoondreams's Trouble series. I hope was original enough so you won't kick me out for plagiarism, however.

**xxXxXxx**

Sirius tottered into the bathroom, still half-asleep. He rubbed his eyes and did his business, already thinking of heading back to bed and snuggling back into Remus's embrace. As he shook the last drops and went to wash his hands he glanced in the mirror, ever attentive to his looks. He ran a hand through his hair out of habit to make it sit better, then left and went back to the dorm.

He snuggled back into bed with a sigh, burying his head in Remus's chest before falling back asleep.

He was awoken by a yell of horror. With a yelp he fell backwards off the bed, hitting his shoulder on the stone floor with a grunt.

"What is it, Moony?" James demanded from across the room, followed by the whooshing sound of hangings being wrenched open. Sirius straightened and looked at Remus with a raised eyebrow. The boy was frozen on the bed, wearing his pyjamas (funny… He didn't remember Remus wearing his pyjama top last night) and staring at him in fear.

"What'd you scream like that for, Moonshine?" He asked.

"Moonshine?" Asked James, who was standing watching them with his arms folded.

"What were you doing in my bed?" Demanded Remus in a quavering voice. Sirius looked from one to other, completely bewildered.

"Is this a joke, or something?" He asked, ghosting a grin. James was still frowning at him.

"You've never called Remus that before," he said slowly. Sirius stood, rubbing his shoulder and laughed.

"I always call Remus Moonshine," He said, "I have since fifth year." Remus and James exchanged a look of mingled puzzlement and worry.

"Are you… Are you alright, Padfoot?" Remus asked tentatively. Sirius looked at him.

"Why shouldn't I be? And since when do you call me 'Padfoot' anymore?"

James unfolded his arms and ran a hand through his hair. "What are you talking about?"

But Sirius was staring at the emblem on James's baggy t-shirt. Ever since he'd met James, Sirius had known he was a fan of the Wimbourne Wasps. That was one of the reasons they'd become friends: same Quidditch team. But now he wasn't wearing one of the many Wimbourne Wasps t-shirts he used for pyjamas, but a Montrose Magpies one.

"What are you wearing?" Sirius demanded, pointing at it. James looked down and plucked at his shirt.

"My usual pyjamas. Why?" He asked. Sirius shook his head.

"But you're not a Magpie fan! You support the Wasps!" He said.

"What's going on?" someone asked in a sleepy mumble. Peter had joined the fray now, rubbing his head tiredly.

"Padfoot's lost his mind," said James.

"No I bloody well haven't," Sirius countered fiercely. "You lot have! Has Snivellus done something to you?"

Remus stood slowly, his eyes never leaving Sirius as if he was afraid he would pounce, looking at him like he was a dangerous animal escaped from a zoo.

"Are you sure you're alright, Sirius? Nothing… happened to you last night, did it?" He asked. Sirius groaned in frustration.

"I just got up, went to the loo and went back to bed. Nothing out of the ordinary." He said.

"Did you drink anything?" Peter asked. Sirius glared at him.

"Oh, yeah, while I was at it I went on a total booze binge down in the Three Broomsticks." He snapped sarcastically. "No, I didn't. I just washed my hands, looked in the mirror and went back to bed. Nothing special."

"Maybe something happened in the bathroom," suggested James. They all headed in there, just to see the reflection of the bathroom… No, not a reflection of the bathroom. The bathroom they were seeing was empty.

Sirius pressed a flat palm to the glass of the mirror.

"What the..?" Breathed James, tapping the glass curiously.

"Something weird's going on," Said Peter in a frightened squeak, master of the obvious. Sirius growled and pounded on the glass.

"It must be something to do with this mirror…" He muttered.

xxXxXxx

Remus woke up slowly, and yawned. He was about to snuggle back down, when he realised he was lacking something next to him. Something warm and loving that was usually there. He looked up groggily, moved the hangings and glanced across to his own bed. The hangings were closed, and he didn't remember closing them at all. In fact, he hadn't closed them in months, because he never used the bed if he could avoid it (which he usually could).

"Pads?" He asked drowsily. There was no response. With another yawn he sat up and moved over to his own bed and opened the hangings.

"What're you doing in my bed, Siri?" Remus asked, puzzled.

Sirius winced at the early morning light that hit him straight in the face and rolled over.

"It's my bed, Moony, you know that…" He muttered. The next moment, Peter's alarm clock went off and the other two occupants of the dormitory began to stir, Peter waking up before James as usual.

"Hey… Woss Sir doin' in yer bed, Rem?" He asked tiredly, his hair in funny directions. James grunted and rose, wraithlike, from his own blankets.

"Didja fight?" He asked, getting up and moving over to where Remus was standing, arms folded across his scarred chest, bewildered.

"I don't think so," he replied, looking down at Sirius, who had dragged his pillow over his head at the sound of Peter's alarm.

"Did you bite him?" Peter asked with a grin, now fully awake and being the morning person he was. Remus gave him a withering look and turned back to Sirius, leaning over.

"Siri, love, are you angry with me about something?" He asked, placing a hand on Sirius's bare shoulder. At that Sirius jerked away and sat up like a scared bird.

"What did you call me?" He demanded, glaring at Remus heatedly. Remus's hand was still holding thin air and he lowered it slowly.

"What I always call you?" He suggested tentatively, looking to James and Peter for confirmation. Sirius, to the shock of the other three, sneered.

"Is this some sort of joke?" He asked. "Because it's not funny."

James and Peter looked at each other, and then James looked at Sirius.

"It's not a joke, Padfoot. He always calls you that, like you always call him Moonshine."

"Or Moony love," added Peter, wincing slightly that that had come out of his mouth. Sirius looked at them all and burst out laughing.

"Come on, guys… Quit joking." He said.

The other three remained deadly serious.

"We're not joking," said James earnestly. Sirius looked at all of them.

"You must be. I'm not gay." He said. At that James and Peter burst out laughing, and Remus stared.

"Not gay? Padfoot, there's no bigger shirt-lifter than you within the walls of Hogwarts." James crowed.

Their hilarity was interrupted by thumping from the bathroom. It was Peter that went to have a look.

He stared. There was their bathroom, but it was not merely a reflection. There was a Sirius, who stopped pounding on the glass when he saw Peter, and broke into a relieved smile. There were also another James, another Remus and another himself. Peter's jaw dropped when his other self waved. Then he uttered a blood-curdling yell and fled from the bathroom in shock.

"What? What, Wormtail?" James asked. Peter raised a shaking hand and pointed to the bathroom, white as a sheet. Both James and Remus went to the bathroom to see what had scared Peter so, and gaped at the mirror.

"SIRIUS!" Remus yelled, running towards the mirror and pressing his palms to the glass, against Sirius's on the other side.

"Moony!" The Sirius on the other side of the glass mouthed happily, looking relieved.

"What?" Asked the other Sirius entering the bathroom and also gaping at the mirror.

Remus had half-climbed onto the sink and was feeling along the edges of the mirror desperately.

"There must be a way to get him back! Sirius, can you hear me, love?" He pleaded to his Sirius. Sirius pointed to his ears and shook his head. Then turned around and ordered something to the other Marauders in the room, and Peter rushed back to the dorm.

Meanwhile, Remus was looking not only at Sirius, but at his other self, surreptitiously. He could see a longing deep in the other Remus's eyes as he watched Remus and Sirius from an anonymous corner of the bathroom, and it broke Remus's heart. Evidently there was something wrong here. He glanced back to the other Sirius, and noted he hadn't acknowledged anything, and hadn't even rushed to the mirror in desperation.

"Make yourself useful and go get some parchment and a quill." He said, feeling a rush of anger at the arrogantly bored way he stood there, looking down his nose at everyone. This Sirius from the other side of the mirror looked thoroughly offended but did as he was told, muttering about 'Remuses who don't know their place…'.

His Sirius glared after the other with obvious dislike, until the Peter on his side returned with a quill and parchment. The Sirius on Remus's side also returned, and Remus quickly scribbled a message on the parchment.

_[I]What happened?[/I] _

Sirius scrawled an answer.

_[I]I haven't the faintest fucking idea.[/I]_

_[I]Don't worry, love, we'll get you back_._[/I]_ Remus wrote back, pressing his palm to the cold glass. Sirius pressed his palm against Remus's, swallowing back tears.

"How?" He mouthed.

Remus reluctantly took his hand away to write, _[I]I don't know yet, but we'll find a way.[/I]_

It was then Peter said they had better get ready for breakfast, and Remus and Sirius quickly wrote 'I love you' on their respective pieces of parchment before reluctantly tearing themselves away from each other.

"Well, that was a disgusting display." Muttered the other Sirius. Remus gave him a contemptuous look and quickly changed, as did James and Peter. By the time they were ready, however, Sirius still wasn't. Remus stared.

"Why aren't you set?" He asked. Sirius snorted.

"I'm not going down to breakfast where people think I'm queer," he said haughtily. James gave him a look of blatant dislike.

"How can this even be a Sirius at all? He's nothing like our Sirius. He's a jerk." He said, repulsed. Peter nodded. Remus shrugged.

"We have to be patient until we get our Sirius back," he said, "and you, get dressed." He ordered to the other Sirius. Sirius folded his arms and gave him a coldly disobedient look.

"Why?"

"Well, you can't not go to lessons," said Remus, folding his arms. Sirius eyed him with a sneer.

"What gives you the authority to..?"

Remus's cold glare shut him up. "I am a prefect, and you will do as I bloody well say. Now get dressed and down to breakfast before I make you." He growled. Sirius swallowed and nodded, leaping to the other Sirius's trunk and pulling his robes out. James rubbed his temples.

"This is going to be a long day."

"Tell me about it." Muttered Remus.

Yes, this Sirius was much worse. He winked and wolf-whistled at any vaguely good-looking skirt that went by, even going as far as to tell Mary McDonald she looked good. Alice and Lily stared, while Mary giggled and blushed.

"Are you sick, Black?" Alice asked. Sirius grinned cheekily.

"Want to take my temperature, Gibson?" He asked lewdly.

Remus growled and dragged Sirius away down a side-corridor, shouting a sorry after Lily and her friends. Once they were out of earshot, Sirius ripped his arm from Remus grip.

"Don't touch me!" He snarled. Remus glowered back.

"Don't care how the fuck you act in your own world, but you're not giving Sirius a bad reputation in this one!"

Sirius looked at him derisively, his lip curling. "As if being a fag isn't bad enough a reputation. Disgusting." He added, shaking his head.

That was the last straw. Remus raised his fist, about to punch Sirius, but James beat him to it, his closed fist colliding squarely with Sirius's jaw.

"Call my mates fags again and I [I]_swear[/I]_ you won't father an heir for that sick family of yours!" He said viciously, turning away and storming off. Sirius looked after him, bewildered, rubbing his jaw. He glanced at Remus, who merely gave him a look that said, 'you deserved that', and followed James and Peter.

"I think we should go to McGonagall." Said Peter. James sighed and slowed his pace from the furious stomp to a sedate stroll.

"She might not believe us." He said.

"We can't go to McGonagall. We have to go to Dumbledore." Said Remus. "He'll know what to do."

He didn't dare voice his terror that they might not get Sirius back at all.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two

On the other side of the mirror, Sirius, fully-dressed, was pacing a hole in the floor of the dormitory, running a hand through his hair. Since coming out of the bathroom, this Peter and James had given him such a wide berth that you could have gotten a ship through it. The other Remus, however, seemed even more sullen and downtrodden.

"There [I]_must[/I]_ be a way to get back," he muttered. James snorted.

"Tell me about it. I don't want a freak as a best friend," he said with a cold look. Sirius stopped pacing and looked at him.

"What do you mean by that?" He asked dangerously. James looked him up and down.

"What you've got with that other Moony… That's sick." He said, folding his arms. Sirius made an incredulous noise.

"You can accept a werewolf but not a homosexual?" He asked scathingly. Remus made a twitchy movement but didn't say anything. James looked away and said nothing.

"Oh, fuck the lot of you. I'm going down to breakfast!" Sirius snarled, stomping from the room in annoyance.

"Oh, wait, Sirius…" Remus called, following him. Sirius stopped on the staircase and glared, arms folded.

"What?" He bit. Remus rubbed his arm.

"Er, watch out for the girls," he mumbled. Sirius's eyes widened and he glanced at the bottom of the stairs in trepidation. He swallowed.

"W-what are they like?" He asked worriedly.

"Pretty vicious," said James, who had appeared. He was looking torn, like he wasn't sure whether to like Sirius or not. "Listen, it's just… this is new. Our Sirius is… is pretty outspoken against, er, queers and-"

"The word is 'gay'," Remus murmured. James looked at him and nodded.

"Against the gays and… well, we're not used to it."

Sirius shrugged. "That's ok. But, er… I have to tell you," he glanced back down the stairs again, swallowing, "me and girls, well… we don't, er, get along…"

Remus cocked his head, looking concerned. "What do you mean?"

Sirius rubbed the back of his neck. "I have a sort of, trauma, as it were… I, girls… scare me shitless, to tell you the truth." He let out a short, deep breath and offered a sheepish grin. James stared.

"He definitely isn't our Sirius," he announced. Remus said nothing, chewing on his lip lightly.

James had not been lying about the girls. As soon as Sirius had warily set foot in the common room, Mary McDonald had latched onto his arm like a breasted leech.

"Hi, Sirius!" She twittered, her high-pitched voice grating on Sirius's ears. "Want to have breakfast together?"

Sirius tried to disentangle himself from her vice-like grip, but it seemed impossible. Had the girl put a Sticking Charm on her arms, or something? She stared into Sirius's eyes with her heavily made-up ones, batting them flirtatiously. Sirius swallowed.

"Er, no thanks, not today!" He announced, finally managing to get her to let go of him and making a bolt for the portrait hole.

"Sirikins!" Mary called, but he'd already gone.

James, Remus and Peter found him hiding behind a tapestry that covered a large, handy alcove.

"Are you all right, Padfoot?" asked Remus. Sirius looked quite frightened, his eyes wide.

"Yeah… yeah, 'm fine…"

He didn't sound it.

James folded his arms and leaned against the wall. "What happened to you to get this bad?" He asked, looking as if he wanted to laugh but had decided it would be insensitive. Sirius shook his head.

"You've met my mother, right?"

"The dragon? Yeah."

"And my cousins Bellatrix and Narcissa?"

"Yep."

"There's your answer," Sirius muttered, poking his head outside the tapestry to check the coast was clear.

"Our Sirius didn't have any problems," James said accusatorially. Sirius thought for a moment, then shrugged.

"Maybe he's compensating for something," he suggested slowly, snorting derisively.

"Fuck off, you cunt," James snarled with a viciousness Sirius had never heard that voice aim at him before, and stormed off. Peter tagged along behind like a short, tubby shadow. Remus hovered for a moment, torn between staying and going.

"That was rather uncalled for," he managed eventually. Sirius shrugged again.

"Why? Seems like the other Sirius is much more of a sod than I am," he said, scratching his chin.

"Are you really with the other Remus?" Remus asked quietly. Sirius looked at him. This Remus looked so pathetically hopeful it wasn't even funny. He nodded.

"Yeah," he replied, checking the coast was clear before heading out; "we've been together six months now."

Remus smiled slightly. "You seemed very distraught when you couldn't get back through."

Sirius grunted. "Wouldn't you be, if you were stuck in a weird parallel universe where your friends are nothing like they've always been and you can't be with your… girlfriend?" He didn't want to make a mistake.

This Remus said nothing and continued to walk sedately, which confirmed Sirius's suspicions.

xxXxXxx

"Sorry for earlier."

Remus looked up from his scrambled eggs to see Sirius standing next to him, hands deep in his pockets and looking sufficiently guilty. Remus considered him for a long time, until Sirius started to fidget and huff in annoyance, before shrugging.

"I suppose you can sit down." He conceded, shifting up slightly and taking a bite of his toast. Sirius swung his leg over the bench and sat down, making completely sure he wasn't making any contact with Remus whatsoever.

"You sit weird," Sirius remarked, "In my world, it's me that sits next to Prongs, not Wormtail."

James crunched his bacon, all the while still glaring at Sirius. It appeared he hadn't forgiven him as readily as Remus had, but then again, Remus always did, and it seemed even ghastly fakes Siriuses were no exception.

"It's always been like that, since first year," Peter explained, getting started on his second helping of kippers. Sirius reached for the cornflakes when Remus gave him one of the Moony Looks.

"What?"

"You never eat the cornflakes. You always have sausages and fried eggs, sunny side down." He said tonelessly. Sirius frowned.

"I have something that heavy for breakfast?" He asked.

"You say you have to keep your strength up for Moony," replied James, failing in his attempt to hide a grin, enjoying how the other Sirius's face went red and he tried to swallow his anger and disgust.

"Why is this Sirius like that anyhow?" he demanded stiffly, successfully repressing himself and reaching for the cornflakes anyway. James frowned a moment.

"I always put it down to the old cow he has for a mother," he said, shrugging.

"I put it down to his cousins, too," added Peter, mouthful of toast and kipper. Remus wiped some stray jam off his plate with his finger and sucked it slowly. Normally, that would have Sirius hard in no time, but this one merely coughed a cough Remus couldn't quite place.

"I think it also has something to do with the fact he had two positive male influences in his young life consisting of Uncle Alphard and Uncle Oscar, so maybe it was imprinting," he pronounced, feeling a little deflated.

"Uncle Oscar? Who's he?"

All three others stared incredulously.

"You don't know Oscar?" Peter asked in shock.

"If I did I wouldn't have asked, would I?" retorted Sirius scathingly.

"He's Alphard's… partner," Remus explained, "as in life partner, not business partner or anything," he added hastily, seeing the confusion on Sirius's face – confusion that soon turned to yet more disgust.

"Oh God, is [I]_everyone[/I]_ a homo around here?"

James rolled his eyes in exasperation and turned to his favourite sport of Evans-watching. Peter frowned and shook his head, his attention drawn back to his kippers.

"Please, don't use words like that, they're not nice," Remus stated, giving him another of the patented Moony Looks. Sirius muttered something unintelligible and gazed off at the Ravenclaw table, where Susan Cooper was showing off again, flicking her blonde hair about in a very unhygienic manner. Sirius, however, seemed to like it.

"Are you dating her?" Remus asked softly, intercepting Sirius's gaze. Sirius shrugged.

"We have sex sometimes," he said absent-mindedly, unaware of Remus's shudder.

"Our Sirius hates her," Remus said. "He sits next to her in Muggle Studies and she keeps flirting with him. She doesn't take a hint."

"Can't see why he doesn't want her, to be honest," Sirius muttered. "No offence, but I sincerely don't understand how a bloke can like a man over a woman."

"You really aren't our Sirius, are you?" Remus said to himself. He turned his eyes back to his plate, blinking rapidly. It had only been a few hours at the most, and he already missed his Sirius so much.

XxXxXxx

"What's our first lesson?" Sirius asked of Remus. This James still wasn't talking to him, and Sirius couldn't be sure the lessons were the same here as they were back home. If it had been up to him he would have skipped them, but hunger and lingering fear of his Prefect Moony's wrath made him reconsider.

"Charms," Remus replied, showing him the timetable as if worried Sirius wouldn't believe him.

"That's alright then," he said with relief, hoisting this Sirius's satchel over his shoulder and heading off towards Flitwick's classroom. Remus followed.

"You're ignoring the girls," he remarked. "You're going to give our Sirius such a bad reputation."

Sirius gave him a look and smirked. "You sound terribly happy about that."

"I… I, er, I…"

Remus stumbled, nearly falling over, and Sirius caught him just in time before he went sprawling face-first onto the ground.

"Watch your step," he said reassuringly, helping him up and offering him a smile. Remus turned bright, violent red and looked away quickly.

"I… thank you," he mumbled, setting off again. Sirius frowned. Something wasn't right here, and he knew what it was.

xxXxXxx

Morning break rolled around after the second hour. The three remaining Marauders and the Fake Sirius (As James insisted on calling him) had made plans to meet outside the gargoyle to Dumbledore's office, and now the three remaining Marauders were waiting impatiently for the Fake Sirius. James kept glancing at his watch, tapping his foot and sighing edgily; Peter was hopping back and forth on the balls of his feet, biting his lip as he looked around anxiously; Remus was sitting against the wall, a book across his crossed legs, writing something that looked vaguely like a Transfiguration essay. They'd been waiting for five minutes, and everyone's patience – already hard-pressed because of this Sirius's sheer horribleness – was wearing a record-breaking thin.

"He's not going to come, the smug, arrogant bastard!" James snarled after another two minutes. It was a miracle his tolerance had lasted that long.

"I knew we shouldn't have let him go off on his own," Peter whined. "He's off snogging or feeling up some girl somewhere, I just know it."

Remus's quill snapped in his fingers, covering the parchment in thick, shadowy blots of ink. He'd gone rigid and the hand that reached into his robes for his wand to fix his mistake was trembling. Both other boys winced and James slapped Peter up the head.

"Excellent work, Wormtail, make him even more unhappy!" he hissed, pulling his own wand out and fixing the parchment before Remus's volatile and powerful magic could set the whole castle on fire.

It had been all right in their first lesson, Charms. Sirius had been good, lain low and not made a fuss about Professor Flitwick's good-natured teasing whenever he came to check on their progress. Once the bell had rung, Sirius had made a very rude gesture in the poor old teacher's direction. Then he'd stomped off in the direction of the Muggle Studies classroom without so much as a word to the other three – Remus hadn't even had time to remind him of where they were to meet for break.

And that had affected Remus's rendition in Ancient Runes. He couldn't help thinking about his Sirius, trapped through a mirror and (he hoped) just as miserable as Remus himself was and this Sirius (who for the entire community of Hogwarts was Remus's Sirius) sitting next to Susan Cooper, flirting with her and doing very un-Sirius-y things to her… Lily had angrily demanded what on Earth was wrong with him after he'd written the wrong rune in the wrong place for the seventeenth time and actually succeeded in doing what no other student had ever done before in the last three hundred and thirty-one years of Hogwarts history and set fire to the blackboard with a two thousand-year-old-spell.

And then he resolved he'd have to tell her eventually. Not only would she notice the lack of public displays of affection between them in the common room (Alice would notice too, shrewd as she was), but also she might be able to help, given that her minor involvement in all things Marauder often dealt a fresh, unbiased mind into the matter.

A kafuffle rounding the corner roused him from his trance-like state and he lifted his head up to see what it was all about.

It seemed, however, that he would not need to tell her. She might have already figured it out.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Three

"Ow! Get off me, you bitch!"

That was Sirius. He sounded in pain, and Remus got to his feet warily. James and Peter were already staring at the end of the corridor.

"Not bloody likely, Sirius Black!"

That was Lily. She sounded very, very angry, and even James, usually as blind to Lily's moods as a politician to the needs of his voters, seemed to sense now was not a good time to begin Operation Wooing Evans, Attempt 3,453.

Lily was dragging a furiously struggling Sirius by an ear, her face set in a perfect mask of cold fury. Sirius continued to thrash about violently, but clearly, he'd never heard of Lily Evans's fabled super-human strength. She came to halt in front of the three and threw Sirius at them. Instead of catching and steadying him, as they would normally have done, all three moved and he crashed into the wall.

"Explain," she demanded, "why I found him with his tongue shoved down that slag Susan Cooper's throat. Now," she added in a voice that allowed no space for token protest.

"Er, well, you see…" Remus began, but he was cut off by the arrival of the person they were waiting for.

"Goodness me, has the corridor in front of my study become a Gryffindor meeting place?" Dumbledore asked benignly. Sirius stood up and rubbed his ear, glaring at Lily something evil and muttering about her under his breath. James and Peter looked guilty, Lily looked furious at Sirius and Remus swallowed.

"We have a problem, Professor Dumbledore," Remus said, "we need to talk to you about it."

"I see," Dumbledore murmured. "And could it not wait until after lessons? I believe the bell will ring in under a minute."

"Well, no, it can't really. See –"

The bell chose that particular moment to cut James off and Dumbledore chuckled.

"I know fully well that such troublemakers as yourselves would not come to see me unless something truly terrible had happened," he said. "You four are quite adept enough at magic without the help of a teacher to hold your hand through it all." He turned to the gargoyle, muttered 'pear drop' and the statue leapt to the side.

The three Marauders, the Fake Sirius and Lily followed him. The first four were certainly used to the whole procedure, having been dragged to Dumbledore's office more than once by an infuriated McGonagall, an exasperated Slughorn or a Flitwick on the verge of a nervous breakdown. For Lily, however, it was the first time, and she was looking around her curiously, especially down at her feet.

"Like escalators…" she muttered to herself, causing the five in front of her to turn in surprise.

"Why, miss Evans, may you be so kind as to inform as to why you are here as well?" Dumbledore asked. Lily blushed but held his piercing blue gaze quite well.

"Remus is my friend, and if someone is playing up," she glowered heatedly at Sirius as she said this, "I want to know why."

"What? Think we don't take care of our own, Evans?" Peter asked in a slightly hurt voice. Lily shook her head.

"No, it's just female curiosity too, I think," she said, shrugging. Dumbledore sighed long-sufferingly and led the way into his office, conjuring up four other squashy armchairs, which glided docilely to the floor. Each of the students occupied one and waited for Dumbledore to sit and gaze at them enquiringly. Chick Fawkes chirped from the tray under his perch, his head cocked to one side curiously.

"Please explain," Dumbledore asked.

"There's a problem with our bathroom mirror," James began, taking the lead as ever. "When we woke up this morning Sirius… wasn't Sirius."

Sirius snorted. James glared at him and continued.

"This Sirius somehow changed places with our Sirius, and now we can't get ___our_ Sirius back. It's a nightmare…"

"Well, that would explain why he was doing something Black certainly wouldn't do," Lily admitted grudgingly. Dumbledore stroked his beard thoughtfully.

"So you mean to say that this Sirius Black is not the Sirius Black we all know, and is someone else?"

"Precisely," James said, nodding.

"The bathroom mirror, you say?" Dumbledore went on, looking pensive.

"Yeah," James confirmed. "When we went in there it wasn't like a mirror, it was like a window. We were seeing the bathroom, but it wasn't our reflection. There was another me, and another Peter and another Remus, and ___our_ Sirius was there with them."

"I do believe I must see this prodigious mirror in order to make an efficient theory on the matter."

So, the Three Remaining Marauders led Dumbledore to Gryffindor Tower. After the Headmaster came Lily, who was not about to let all this go without a fight, and a sulking Fake Sirius. Once in the bathroom, Dumbledore began touching the frame of the mirror, testing the gap between it and the wall, and tapping on the glass.

"So you are saying Mr Black merely fell through?"

"We don't know how it happened, actually," Remus admitted, rubbing his arm nervously.

"Yeah," Peter piped up, "we just woke up this morning and Sirius was in his own bed, and – "

Both James and Lily hissed at him to be quiet, but the damage was done. Dumbledore raised a suspicious bushy eyebrow and looked very intently at them.

"Meaning?"

Remus fidgeted tensely, opened his mouth to say something but was beaten to it by the other Sirius.

"It means the Sirius that isn't me and belongs here is having it off with this Remus," he said exasperatedly. Everyone glared at him, but he didn't seem fazed in the slightest, and kept his aloof manner with great haughtiness and dignity.

"I see, well, I suppose that would help you figure out it wasn't your Sirius," Dumbledore murmured, a hint of humour in his voice, and he turned back to the mirror… which now showed someone.

.

Sirius was going to go crazy. He'd finally managed to shake Susan Cooper, who kept asking him for sex – the horror of the idea – and was now fully intent on hiding in the dormitory until a solution was found. His relief was obvious when he saw Dumbledore, his three friends and for, some strange reason, Lily Evans, in the mirror (he refused to count the other Sirius as a human being or to even consider his existence).

He dashed back to the dormitory to grab a piece of parchment and a quill and quickly scribbled on it, ___Can you get me back now? _

.

"Can any sound be heard beyond the mirror?" Dumbledore asked as he watched Sirius holding the piece of parchment up. The Marauders shook their heads, and the Headmaster nodded. He waved his wand and a stream of curly, green letters danced across the mirror.

**How on Earth did you get there, dear boy? I must know how.**

Sirius, who hadn't the faintest idea what spell Dumbledore had used but definitely wanted to learn it, swiftly wrote back an answer.

_I woke up to __go to the l__ use the bathroom, checked my reflection and woke up in the wrong __Remus's__ bed. _

**A lesson against vanity, perhaps? **Dumbledore chuckled.** This is most extraordinary, and I'm afraid some time may elapse before I discover the answer. Mirrors communicating with other dimensions are not often heard of. In fact, I do not recall ever hearing of any.**

_Do you think I should go talk to this place's Headmaster, Professor? _

**I do believe that is a good idea, Mr Black. Modestly speaking, two great minds on one matter may come to a solution faster than just one.**

_How long do you think it will take, Prof? _

**I sincerely do not have any idea, Mr Black. But I shall send word as soon as there are any developments. Now, I daresay you must return to your lessons, hm?**

Sirius looked sheepish and nodded guiltily. He suddenly looked at the doorway with alarm, disappeared for a moment, and then reappeared again, with an angry Lily, this one with her hair tied back, holding a wand at him.

Sirius, in silence, tried to explain himself, but the other Lily was having none of it. She yelled something, her hand on her hip. This Lily snorted.

"I'm certainly not that hysterical," she said, tossing her hair back in indignation. No one had the daring to contradict her, and continued watching the predicament unfold.

It seemed, however, that the other Lily had noticed the small gathering on the other side of the mirror. Her eyes flew open to saucer-like proportions, and suddenly, the Lily on the other side of the mirror had her hair down, and the real Lily had her hair tied back.

**.**

"E-Evans?" Sirius asked timidly. Lily looked at him, looked at the mirror, where a Lily with her hair tied back was frantically thumping on the mirror, and then screamed in frustration.

"How can this even be happening to me?" she demanded, looking heavenwards and Sirius knew better than to try to talk some sense into her. A berserker-mode Evans was a force of nature no mortal could reckon with.

She snatched Sirius's parchment and quill, quickly wrote something in very feminine, tidy handwriting despite her anger and frustration, and almost thrust it up at the mirror.

_I want back. NOW!_****

Dumbledore sighed as if James and Remus were not trying to restrain the other Lily behind him, and waved his wand again.

**As much as I wish to get you both back unharmed, I need time to study the phenomenon.**

Lily looked ashamed for a moment and nodded.

"Well, Evans, looks like it's just you and me," Sirius muttered. Lily rolled her eyes.

"Whoop-de-do," she said sarcastically, mimicking the waving of a small flag with mock enthusiasm.

"At least you don't have to go through this alone," Sirius retorted as they left the bathroom. "And there's a half-decent Remus here, too."

"What's Potter like?" she asked nervously. Sirius made a face and she nodded comprehendingly, clamping her lips between her teeth worriedly.

"Why is the Remus only half-decent?" she enquired as they descended the stairs to the boys' dormitories. Sirius looked around and sighed.

"He's a bit of a wimp," he explained. "He's head over heels and the Sirius that belongs here doesn't even notice him."

He sounded very bitter as he said that, and Lily noticed the disgusted expression on his face. She wondered whether it was aimed at the half-decent Remus or the other Sirius, and she decided it wouldn't be aimed at Remus despite his lack of backbone. She had to admit, regardless of all his shortcomings, Black was faithful and definitely in love with Remus. She opened her mouth to ask how Peter was.

As soon as they set foot down in the common room, however, it was rugby-tackled from her mind by an indignant shriek.

"LILY!"

Lily winced, but seemed a little relieved. At least there was a Mary here.

"What were you _ doing_ up there with him? You were meant to tell him off for ignoring me!" Mary was using a horrible, whiny, I-didn't-get-what-I-wanted tone of voice. "Instead you come down missing your tank top and with your hair down! What am I supposed to think?"

"My sensors indicate you want to tap that," said Alice, who was standing behind Mary, prophetically. Mary looked on the verge of tears.

"I _ trusted_ you!"

"What in the name of Merlin's jug ears are you talking about?" Lily demanded, rediscovering her gift of speech. Mary appeared to have lost hers, if the scoffing sounds of incredulity were anything to go by.

"You said you didn't fancy him!" she shrieked. "Now I find you snogging him!"

Lily looked horrfied for a moment, then snorted. "Me? Snog Sirius Black? There's more chance of the giant squid marrying Dumbledore!"

"Fuck off, Lily!" Mary snarled. "And don't talk to me anymore!"

With that, she flounced off in a triumph of hissiness. Alice gave her a poignant look. Lily finally shut her mouth.

"You believe me, right, Alice?" she asked, almost desperately. Alice frowned somewhat.

"I would, but…" she shrugged, "greater girls have fallen for him before now." She turned on her heel and followed Mary. Lily blinked in shock, then turned to Sirius.

"What was _ that_ about?"

Sirius shrugged. "Apparently she thinks you snogged me."

"I thought the you in this place was screwing Slutsan Cooper?"

"It seems not only her…" Sirius stated with a sigh.

**.**

The other Lily, breathing heavily, had her wand out and pointed at the Marauders and, foolishly, Dumbledore. The other Sirius was leaning against the door and smirking, apparently greatly amused by the whole proceedings.

"Who. The hell. Are you?"

Remus sighed and offered her a smile. "Listen, Lily," he started, stepping forward with his hands held up in the universal language for 'Look, I'm not holding a giant murderous weapon', "the bathroom mirror is a sort of portal, and-"

He made to place a comforting hand on Lily's shoulder, but she shrank back with a catlike glare in his direction.

"Who are you?"

Dumbledore sighed. "Young lady, I believe he was about to answer your question?"

Lily had the grace to look sheepish. Sirius sniggered. Lily's head snapped in his direction, and her eyes narrowed.

"What are you laughing at, Black?" she snapped. Sirius shrugged with a smirk.

"Laughing at this whole mess," he said easily. "What's happened, Evans, is that the bathroom mirror in our dormitory swaps people with their doubles from another world. Right at this moment, out of all the people in this room, I'm the only one you really know."

Lily snorted. "That's supposed to be a relief how?"

Sirius shrugged again. "I never said it would be." And he refused to say anything more.

Remus rolled his eyes and gave him a sickened look, before turning back to Lily.

"What he means is the Sirius you tried to emasculate in the other bathroom wasn't this Sirius, but our Sirius, the Sirius from here." He pointed to the floor with both fingers in emphasis. Lily looked at him suspiciously.

"Can I believe you?"

"Miss Evans, do you have any choice?" Dumbledore asked mildly. Lily fidgeted nervously.

"I don't suppose so," she mumbled.

"Very well then, I suggest we return to my office lest we lose anymore of you, where I believe a full explanation is in order."


End file.
